Parenting.

Catalog description

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course is about parenting. Students review and discuss theories and literature on human parenting, including the history of parenting, contextual issues in parenting, parenting at different stages of children's lives (from pregnancy and infancy through having adult children) and parenting children with special needs (including disabilities and behavior problems). Also covers parent training and education, the journey to becoming a parent through adoption, parenting contributions to social, emotional and cognitive competence, child maltreatment and public policy around parenting. Students review parenting in different family structures including married, never married, divorced and separated families. This is not a course on how to parent, but practical issues in the lives of parents are discussed.